Book review: "The Hunt for History" by Nathan Raab

Perhaps the highest compliment one can pay to a book is to regret that it had to end.

This was the case with "The Hunt for History," by Nathan Raab, a 2020 book filled with fascinating historical stories and an inside look at the world of rare document collectors. When I turned the last page and realized there were no more stories, I was bummed. 

"The Hunt for History" isn't a perfect book, but it's very readable. Raab, a collector and reseller of historical documents and objects, illuminates lesser-known moments involving such figures as George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, Albert Einstein and Martin Luther King Jr.. Each story is tied to a document or item that Raab is considering acquiring. First he must answer some basic questions: Is this item genuine? And if it is, what is it worth?

It's a bit like "Antiques Roadshow," but this book goes deeper.

I liked Raab's description, early in "The Hunt for History," of learning the rare document business at the feet of his father. His father impressed on Raab the importance of examining the details of a document — "Don't just assume, look closer." For example, the elder Raab spotted the significance of an obscure William McKinley document listed among many items for sale at an auction. They bought if for $20,000 and resold it for $60,000. 

"This is the process by which my dad had built his business in the early years: he'd looked at page after page and found something hidden in plain sight," Nathan Raab writes. 

A key takeaway: The most valuable documents connect the authors to their historical significance. His father, for instance, instantly saw the value in a letter by Orville Wright where he describes "Learning the secret of flight from a bird." If the letter had been about a more mundane topic, it would be far less valuable. 

Eventually, Nathan Raab took over the family business, with help from his father. 

In one chapter, Raab describes acquiring a letter signed by Thomas Jefferson that was largely a list of books the third president was ordering. It didn't seem that significant at first, especially when he realized the bulk of the handwriting in the letter was not Jefferson's.  

"Damn," said his father.

But research changed things. First, they discovered it had been written by Meriwether Lewis, who was Jefferson's secretary before leading the Lewis and Clark Expedition. They then learned that this book order was actually the first major acquisition of the Library of Congress. So in one document, they connected two major historical figures and a major American institution.  They eventually sold the letter to the Library of Congress (Raab hints that the price was "in the six figures").

There are more stories relating to Napoleon, Winston Churchill, Thomas Edison, Ronald Reagan, and other notables. Many of the stories involve fortuitous discoveries of valuable items in someone's closet or attic. Too often, Raab says, important historical items have been forgotten and ignored, and come close to being tossed in the trash (of course, some probably are). 

It takes time and experience to recognize the value of a piece, Raab says — even auction houses like Christie's and Sotheby's often miss or underplay the historical significance of items they're selling, 

I liked Raab's description of how they work to authenticate documents and spot fakes. They look for clues in the handwriting, the type of paper, the "bleeding" of  the ink, watermarks, creases, and any known history of the item (the "provenance"). Even the size of the paper itself can be a clue.

Raab is a good writer, but there some small lapses.

First, he is inconsistent in providing the prices of items. Part of the fun of these stories is knowing what things are worth. In some chapters, he is clear about prices, but at other times is oddly vague.

In one chapter about selling two long-lost audiotapes from the Air Force One flight that carried John F. Kennedy's body after his assassination, Raab at first describes how he and his father agonized over what price to ask. They eventually settled on $500,000. But when he was forced to give one of the tapes to the National Archives, he was able to sell only one. So what did it sell for? He never says.

In one case, he seems to hint that a batch of documents he was reviewing had been acquired earlier by theft, saying "it was pretty clear what happened." Don't be coy! Say what you mean.

Last, I wish Raab would admit to at least one mistaken purchase. Surely, there's been a time where he inadvertently bought a fake or at least paid too much for something. But none of that is in the book.  A little less-than-perfect moment would help make him more human.

Still, these are minor complaints. It is a quite enjoyable book. Raab seems a young man, so I hope he will return someday with more great stories.